Paytm plans to open multi-format physical touch points soon

Kolkata: Mobile payment firm Paytm, which has remained restricted to the digital format this far, will soon have physical branches and touch points, a top company official said.

"We will have physical touch points in various formats. We have submitted a 12 months business plan," Paytm Payment Bank VP Ruchita Taneja Aggarwal said on the sidelines of a CII organised banking event here.

She said that these physical touch points have become necessary after Paytm forayed into payment bank business and received the regulator's nod.

"We are waiting for the final license from RBI, but we expect to start payment bank operations by Diwali," Aggarwal said.

With payment bank license, Paytm would be able to give interest on wallet balance to those who upgrade their accounts to savings bank, but Aggarwal declined to speak on the interest rate Paytm plans to offer to customers.

She said Paytm may adopt disruptive business model for the proposed payment bank business.

The Payment Bank would also help Paytm to foray into smaller towns. Currently, Paytm is present in 20 cities with some 135 million customers.

RBI regulations require at least 25 per cent of the touch points in tier V and VI towns.

Aggarwal said that Paytm is in talks with banks and financial services companies to offer financial products.

Paytm also aims to cross one million merchant outlets soon from eight lakh now. Even taxis and autos are treated as merchant outlets.